Course Overview

Well-trained front-line employees with people skills are essential for good customer service - and they must be supported by reliable, easy-to-access systems. Whether you serve internal or external customers, good customer service drives value to your bottom line. This course will show you practical, actionable steps that will help you and your team improve customer service now.

Course Methdology

Presentations by the consultant are interspersed with group discussions, case analysis, video clips, individual work, and team exercises.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Identify the helps and hindrances to customer service your team faces.

Understand the expectations and needs of different customers by generation and role.

Build rapport and minimize misunderstanding.

Respond effectively to emotionally loaded situations.

Outline new standards of excellence for you and your team.

Target Audience

This course is designed for anyone - front-line professional, supervisor, manager - who deals directly with customers, whether internal or external, and who wants to hone their skills with the aim of maximizing customer satisfaction on the job.

Target Competencies

Understanding what is - and isn't - important about customer service in your workplace.

The most important "dos-and-don'ts" in dealing with your customers.

Language and procedures to minimize misunderstanding and maximize rapport.

Familiarity with best-known customer service models (EPIC, PRIDE, RATER, Kano) and which is most appropriate for your team.

How to monitor your service culture.

Course Outline

Who is the Customer? What is the Service?

A tale of two baristas…

Customer service excellence in different settings

Where do norms come from?

Differences across generations and cultures

Feelings versus efficiency

Customer Service: It’s Personal

Back to "Who is the customer?"

Image and respect

Empathy and professionalism

Self-confidence and fairness

Body language and rapport

Diffusing an ugly situation

"Aha!" moments and how to harness them

Organizational Challenges to Service Excellence

By organization type:
Government - "Our job is enforcement!"
Academia - "They're students - we hold them to standards!"
Monopolies - "Where are they gonna go?"

Serving internal customers

Privacy concerns

What Works in the Real World

Modeling what does happen and what should happen:
Models (EPIC, PRIDE, RATER, Kano)
Measurements
Analysis
Empowerment